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B. W. OGBURN. CALCULATING BALANCE.

No. 80,003. Patented July 14, 1868.

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B. W; OGBURN. CALCULATING BALANCE.

Patented July 14, 1868.

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BENJAMIN W. OGBURN, OF WHIITTLESMI LLS, VIRGINIA.

Letters Patent No. 80,003, dated 14,1868.

IMPROVED CALCULATING-BALANCE.

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Be it known that I, BENJAMIN W. 068mm, of Whittlp's Mills, in the county of Mecklenhurg, and State of Virginim'havc invented a new and improved Colculating- 'Balanoe; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact-description of the construction andoperation of the'samc, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of. this specification, in which-- Figure 1 is a front elevation. i

F igure 2 is an end eleration Figure 3 is a detached View of tbe'fulcrum s.

Figure 4 is a detached rear view ofthc balance-beam I.

Figure 5 is a top vicar. j

The object of this invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and easily-operated balance, which will indicate cither the weight of an article or itsgross price. l v p In the drawings, A A. A A are four standards, and B is a balanced frame, resting upon a fulcrum, b b, and supporting at its rear end a platform, C, and at its front end a bar, D; The platform rests upon sharp-edged metallic bearings cc, and is steadied and prevented from tipping by means of an arm, E,firmly attached to the centre of the under sid, ofthe platform, and at its lower end hinged to a pivoted arm, F, supported by a'short post, G, under the platform. I I

The bar D is suspended from the front end of the side beams of the frame 13 by means of stirrups H H. One cnd of it passes through tho standard 'A, as seen in fig. 1, and moves-up and down in a slot in said standard; as the frame B librates on its fulcrum. The frame B, platform 0, and bar D are so arranged and weighted that onequarter of a pound applied it the bar will exactly balance one pound applied at the platform.

In connection with this apparatus, I use a graduatedbalance-beam, I,.exten'ding directly over the bar D, and pivoted at 0 in the slot in-the post'A. Theends of this beam are weighted, as seen at J K, in such a manner that the beam is exactly pois'cd upon its fulcrum. It is provided with a heavy pea, L, and a sliding adjustable fulcrum, 'M, having a sharp edge, which rests directly across the upper side of the bar D, and can be adjusted toany point along the bar.. I us ually 'attach the fulcrum to a clasp, m, the edges. of which run in grooves e-e along the side of the balance-beam. A set-screw, i,-is provided, by which the sliding fulcrum can beficred at anydesired point,

All the fulcra used about the device are made of metal, reduced to a fine edge, so that the balance will yield to the slightest pressure. The form of the fulcrum s, upon which the beam I is balanced, is clearly shown in fig. 3.

The operation of an hpparatus constructed in this manner is as follows:

The article to be weighed is placed upon the platform C, when one-fourth of its weight, applied at the beam D, will balance it. This weight is applied by the pea L, through the sliding fulcrum M, in the following manner: Suppose the peat-o weigh a pound itself, then, by placingthe sliding fulcrum over the figure 1, on the graduated beam, and by placingthe pea over the centre of the slide, or o er the figure 1 also, exactly one pound pressure will be, exerted upon the bar D. By placing the sliding fulcrum M at the figure 2, and the pea at the figure 1, exactly one-half pound pressure will be exerted on the bar. The same result will follow if we place the sliding fulcrum at any figure, and the pea at exactly one-half that figure, and it is only necessary to vary the proportion to one-third, one-fourth, 85s., to obtainone-third of a pound, one-fourth of a pound, he, pressure upon said bar.

On the other hand, by placing the sliding-fulcrum at 1, and the pea at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6m, we may produce four, six,.cight, tcnflpou nds' pressure upon the Bar D, and balance sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two, forty pounds, &c., on the platform. And if, by running the pea out to the cadet tlfe beam, and placing the sliding fulcrum at 1, we are not able to produce force sufficient 5 balance the platform, then we should have s set of weights, ten

pounds, one hundred pounds, &c., to hang upon the weight J, hy which means any amount of weight upon the 2 so,ooa

platform can be balanced; It is evident that when the article to. be weighed is of. more than four pounds weight, the sliding fulcrum must be placed between the pen. and the post A. If of less than four pounds \Yeig'ht the pea mustbe, placed between the fulcrum and the post; if-exactly four pounds weight, the pea and the fulcrum may be pieced together at any figure on the beam. If we wish .to weigh a. fraction of four pounds, we place the fulcrum at any figure, and the pea at the fraction of that figure. If we wishto weigh any multiple of'four pounds we place the fulcrum at any figure, and the pen at the multipleof that figure.

Making use of this principle, I am enabled to construct my balance so that it will indicate not only the weight of an article, but may also be employed to indicate how manyponnds, at any given price,'it will take to amount to any given sum.

I For convenience in adjusting my balance to .this purpose, I usually make the parts so that one pound at p the hat 1) will 'balnncefonr at the platform, and then use a quarter-pound pee. on the graduated boom I, which,

when ov'er the sliding fulcrum, will nlwnys exactly balance one ponnd' on the platform. I then graduate one side of tholienm I (usually the rear side) for this particulnr' purpose, laying it oil into, say, one hundred equal pnrts'from the fulcrum a, u starting-point, and numberingthe degrees orequnl-parts. Then suppose I desire to know how many, pounds of any article, at six 'and a. quarter cents per pound, will come to twenty-five cents; I ploceth'o' fulcrum at 61 and the pen. at- 25 on the scale, and pour the article upon the platform till the beam rises. By this income the retail trader will be enabled to use. the balance to great advantage. The customer will ask for, say, fiftj-cents-jforth of on article; the trader fixes the pea nt'50, then sets the fulcrum'at the price per pound, and the balance rises to indicato when the proper quantity has been placed upon the platform.

Thesome principle may lie used in buying as well selling, the operation being reversed. For instance, some person offers the trader-on unknown quantity of in article, for which he is at that time paying twelve end a. half cents per pound; lie-places the'fulcrum at 12%, puts the article on the platform, and slides the pea back end forth till it, balances the platform-l The figure at which it s'tnndn'will indicate the moss mice of the nrticle'ofi'ered for sale to the trader. I

Having thusdescribed m invention, what I claim as new, sud desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the sliding'fulcrum M and pea L, when working upon is graduated beam, I, in connec'-. tion with a. balanced frsrne, B, the parts being constructed and arranged ss-describod, so as to onerste together in the manner and for the purpose set-forth. i

To the above specification of my invention '1 have signed my hand. this 23d day of March, 1868.

B. WFOGBURN Witnesses:

Cnsnnns Perm, SOLOR C. Kmzon. 

